Overview

• Darian Mensah went 22-for-28 for 268 yards with two touchdowns to Cooper Barkate, and Nate Sheppard rushed for 168 yards and two scores as Duke piled up about 504 total yards.
• The overturned targeting on Duke’s Jaiden Francois revealed Cook’s fumble, recovered by Bradley Gompers, and three plays later Mensah hit Barkate for a 34-yard touchdown to make it 17-3.
• Syracuse committed three turnovers and managed only a 29-yard field goal, with first-time starter Rickie Collins finishing 24-of-37 for 229 yards after replacing injured Steve Angeli.
• The defeat snapped Syracuse’s three-game winning streak and marked the largest home loss of the Fran Brown era, while Duke improved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the ACC.
• Coach Fran Brown apologized for the performance and said the officials made the right call on the reversal, as Duke coach Manny Diaz called the sequence a confidence boost for his team.